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Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a late-night sketch comedy series which premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, and introduced a number of new comics and distinctive, recurring characters -- much like Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In years earlier, but with an edgier, late-night sensibility. The Muppets were regular performers in the first season of Saturday Night Live (1975-76). The Land of Gorch :For more information see The Land of Gorch Jim Henson's Muppets were regular performers in the first season of Saturday Night Live (1975-76). The characters, which were specifically created for the show, appeared in The Land of Gorch segments. Fifteen sketches were produced, featuring performances by Muppeteers Jim Henson, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, Alice Tweedie, Fran Brill, and Richard Hunt. The series of sketches lasted from SNL's first episode to April of 1976 (and became a recurring joke in the show's second season). The book Live From New York by TV critic Tom Shales details the backstage conflict between the writers of the show, who resisted integrating the Muppets into the show during the first year, and the Muppet performers. Guest Appearances Muppet Mentions & Spoofs References * In the Muppet Babies episode "Muppets Not Included", Baby Gonzo takes orders in a diner and yells out "Cheeseburger! cheeseburger! cheeseburger!" referencing the "Olympia Cafe" sketch that recurred from 1978 to 1979. * A 1995 episode of Sesame Street featured a spoof of the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch (and films) "Wayne's World", entitled "Telly's Town". In the episode, Telly and Big Bird put on a show similar to Wayne's World - and acting similar to Wayne and Garth. Mike Myers (as Wayne) appeared as a tuba deliveryman in the episode, as well. A monster resembling Garth appears at the end of the episode, playing in the band. * In Miss Piggy's Rules, Miss Piggy gives a breakdown of shorthand used in personal ads, among which are the initials SNL (used for Saturday Night Live). * Ernie's final song in the video, 123 Count With Me features a lyric where he asks the viewer to count a trio of "wild and crazy guys". * A sketch from season 30 of Sesame Street features Telly as "King Telly-Tut," singing about his triangle-loving Egyptian ancestor in a musical number which parodies Steve Martin's famous "King Tut" routine from the SNL episode he hosted on April 22, 1978. * The 1999 Sesame Street CD-ROM game Music Maker features a section called "Ernie's World," where a cap-wearing, guitar-holding Ernie hosts a music show from inside a basement (ala "Wayne's World"). * In the 2005 pilot for The Muppet Spotlight, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker invent celebrity, custom iPods. Their Ashlee Simpson model is designed with a built-in lip-sync feature, referencing Simpson's appearance on the show on October 24, 2004, where it was revealed she was lip-syncing her musical performances. * The Sesame Street resource video The Get Healthy Now Show features a group of healthy foods, who call themselves "The Not Yet Ripe Fruit and Veggie Five," referencing The Not Ready For Prime Time Players. * In a Sesame Street sketch, Hansel and Gretel spoof Saturday Night Live's "Hans and Franz" by saying "We just want to drop *clap* bread crumbs" with thick Austrian accents. * A 2008 t-shirt by Coastal Concepts depicts Ernie and Bert as Georg Festrunk and Yortuk Festrunk, Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin's "Two Wild and Crazy Guys" characters from SNL's third season. * On November 23, 2010, Sesame Workshop launched a viral marketing campaign on Facebook and YouTube called Cookie Monster should host Saturday Night Live! Connections advertisement for the October 11, 1975 premiere of Saturday Night Live featuring Jim Henson and the Muppets.]] "Motherlover", a song by Justin Timberlake performed on SNL, was nominated at the 61st Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, versus "I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus", from A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa. Both lost to Hugh Jackman's opening number at the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Cast & Crew *Don Pardo, announcer (1975-1981, 1982-2014) *Dan Aykroyd, cast member (1975-1979) *John Belushi, cast member (1975–1979) *Chevy Chase, cast member (1975–1976) *Jane Curtin, cast member (1975–1980) *Laraine Newman, cast member (1975–1980) *Gilda Radner, cast member (1975–1980) *Albert Brooks, filmmaker (1975) *Richard Belzer, extra and guest performer (1975-1980) *Cheryl Hardwick, band member and composer (1975-2000) *Brian Doyle-Murray, cast member and writer (1978-1982) *Mitchell Kriegman, writer (1980) *Gilbert Gottfried, cast member (1980–1981) *Eddie Murphy, cast member (1980–1984) *Julia Louis-Dreyfus, cast member (1982–1985) *Billy Crystal, cast member (1984–1985) *Martin Short, cast member (1984–1985) *Joan Cusack, cast member (1985–1986) *Robert Downey, Jr., cast member (1985–1986) *Robert Smigel, writer and featured performer (1985–2008) *Victoria Jackson, cast member (1986-1992) *Conan O'Brien, writer (1987-1991) *Ben Stiller, featured performer (1989) *Mike Myers, cast member (1989-1995) *Chris Rock, cast member (1990–1993) *Rob Schneider, cast member (1990–1994) *Adam Sandler, cast member (1991-1995) *Sarah Silverman, featured performer and writer (1993–1994) *Jay Mohr, featured performer (1993-1995) *Michael McKean, cast member (1994–1995) *Molly Shannon, cast member (1995–2001) *Hugh Fink, writer (1995-2002) *Stephen Colbert, voice of Ace in "The Ambiguously Gay Duo" (1996–2007, 2011) and guest writer (1996) *Tina Fey, writer and cast member (1997-2006) *Jimmy Fallon, cast member (1998-2004) *Horatio Sanz, cast member (1998–2006) *Rachel Dratch, cast member (1999-2006) *Maya Rudolph, cast member (2000-2007) *Amy Poehler, cast member (2001-2008) *Ken Scarborough, writer (2001-2004) *Seth Meyers, writer and cast member (2001-2014) *Fred Armisen, cast member (2002-2013) *Bill Hader, cast member (2005-2013) *Andy Samberg, cast member (2005-2012) *Fátima Ptacek, extra, two episodes (2009) *Bobby Moynihan, cast member (2008-2017) *Nasim Pedrad, cast member (2009-2014) *Jenny Slate, cast member (2009-2010) *Vanessa Bayer, cast member (2010-2017) *Jay Pharoah, cast member (2010-2016) *Taran Killam, cast member (2010-2016) *Kate McKinnon, cast member (2012-present) Hosts and Musical Guests See also * The Land of Gorch * Saturday Night Live DVDs External Links *Jim's Red Book -4/24/1976 Sat Night Live - I write Sources __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:Non-Henson TV Shows Category:TV Appearances Category:TV Mentions Category:Christmas Appearances